Blu-ray, in General

[tavernier]

The Onion weighs in.

[tryavna]

The Onion weighs in.

Finally, a voice of reason!

[Antoine Doinel]

Apple TV 2.0 vs. Blu-Ray, DVD & HD Cable: The Comparison

[denti alligator]

We’ve been doing all our mastering and restoration in HD for years, and as soon as we're ready to move forward with hi-def DVDs we won't be keeping it a secret. Please keep checking our website and newsletter, and feel free to write to Jon Mulvaney again if you have any other questions!

Sincerely,

Tamara

I'd say this sounds like something's gonna happen soon! Instead of the usual "we have no plans" or "we'd like to but...," this is practically a "yes."

[Darth Lavender]

The Firesales have arrived

[davebert]

Starting tomorrow (but frequently found today), the HD-DVD add-on for Xbox 360 is $49.99. But it's not a HDMI connection, so no true 1080p signal, right?

It's also a dick move (if expected) for Microsoft, who as late as several days ago - post Toshiba announcement, mind you - were pimping the add-on in all the Xbox sign-in pages at its new low low price of $129.99. Hope no one got burned there. Most retailers offer 14 day price match guarantees, anyway.

Even with the prices, I think I'm still going to have to sit this liquidation out.

[Darth Lavender]

I could be wrong, but I *think* the X-Box drive (on a PC) is as good as HDMI compatable.

From what little I've read on that particular subject, a DVI (or is that DVE? the typical plug used to connect a computer monitor, anyway) will also pass the 1080p signal *if* the graphics card is HDME compatible or something.

That's still pretty useless if you're using an X-Box player (but I heard Playstation isn't HDMI either) *However* if, like me, you're using it as a computer drive, then that's not an issue.

At that price (if it applies to Australia) I'm seriously tempted to get an X-Box drive just as a spare, if I have the cash left over after all the my HD-DVD purchases.

Edit: On second thoughts, I don't think I'll really need a back-up drive. Presumably, China is still sticking with the CH-HDDVD which will play HDDVD disks fine. So, in the unlikely event that my Toshiba X-Box drive stops working, there should still be plenty of cheap Chinese replacements available.

[davebert]

The PS3 does indeed sport a HDMI port, which I've been very pleased with. Not that I've turned the system on in the last month (dearth of Blu-Rays, dearth of games that aren't more quickly obtained on the 360), but it's always been a pleasant experience when I do get around to it...

[Donald Brown]

It's official, no There Will Be Bloood on HD-DVD. In fact, Paramount's March 4 releases to be their last:

FEB. 28 | The March 4 releases Into the Wild and Things We Lost in the Fire will be Paramount Home Entertainment’s last titles in the HD DVD format, the studio confirmed.

The studio pulled the plug on the HD DVD versions of other titles that had been announced for the format, including DreamWorks Animation’s Bee Movie, due March 11, and Sweeney Todd, due April 1. Their standard DVD versions will come out as planned.

Paramount also has slated There Will Be Blood, starring Oscar-winning Daniel Day-Lewis, for standard DVD release on April 8. Online retail sites last week also listed the title as available in HD DVD, but that information has since been taken down.

The studio has not yet said what its first Blu-ray Disc releases will be.

[cdnchris]

No surprise, though I'm shocked they didn't also pull the titles next week since they did that to the Blu-Ray people when they switched to HD DVD. Shame, though, as I was hoping to get Blood as soon as possible. Now I'll have to wait until they actually start pushing out Blu titles. Anybody know when this might be? Summer?

[Darth Lavender]

Actually is a bit of a surprise...

In the case of pulling the Bluray titles, it was presumably part of the deal with Toshiba. I'm sure Paramount would have prefered to let those already-created discs go on sale.

In this case, they have a number of movies just about ready for publication and they're denying themselves the (admittedly small) HDDVD revenue it could bring.


Bit of a nuissance (There Will Be Blood sounds somewhat interesting (a mixture of things I love and things I hate in a motion picture, so I'm not sure if the movie will actually end up appealing to me) and I was quite looking forward to "Sweeney Todd")

But, heck, I've got about thirty or forty HDDVDs in the mail (averaging $10 each) from various online sales. I don't think I'll be buying any more full-price movies any time soon.

[cdnchris]

In the case of pulling the Bluray titles, it was presumably part of the deal with Toshiba. I'm sure Paramount would have prefered to let those already-created discs go on sale.

For fun I was looking through some posts from hi-def forums (and to think there are film/dvd discussion boards scarier than this place) from around that time and was incredibly depressed to see so many people would actually be that upset they weren't getting Blades of Glory. Seriously? Sounded like a few of them wanted to kill themselves. Well, I'm assuming Paramount still has them somewhere in storage so soon they should see them.

I can understand Blood and Sweeney not being released as they may not have been pressed, but to cancel Bee Movie and the Jack Ryan collection? That makes no sense to me since they would already be pressed. I couldn't care less about either, but I'm sure the Jack Ryan set would have sold fairly well.

[Donald Brown]

...(and to think there are film/dvd discussion boards scarier than this place)...

Ha, we're paragons of civility compared to the lunatics and format-partisans on other sites.

[dx23]

In the case of pulling the Bluray titles, it was presumably part of the deal with Toshiba. I'm sure Paramount would have prefered to let those already-created discs go on sale.

I can understand Blood and Sweeney not being released as they may not have been pressed, but to cancel Bee Movie and the Jack Ryan collection? That makes no sense to me since they would already be pressed. I couldn't care less about either, but I'm sure the Jack Ryan set would have sold fairly well.

Other thing that is not making any sense is the recalling of HD DVDs by the studios. Borders has returned almost 75% of its HD DVD stock to the studios, only leaving a handful of titles in the store and marking those at $29.99 a piece. What are the studios going to do with all those discs?

[colinr0380]

...(and to think there are film/dvd discussion boards scarier than this place)...

Ha, we're paragons of civility compared to the lunatics and format-partisans on other sites.

I agree - I think of our group as the fluffier, cuddlier nerds (with the occasional psychopathic wig out over aspect ratios!)

[patrick]

Any word on when we'll start seeing Paramount and Universal titles in Blu-Ray?

I'm actually a little surprised that Toshiba seems to be letting Paramount and Universal switch sides so soon, even if HD-DVD is officially dead - there have got to be discs of Bee Movie and other films after March 4th pressed, no? From what I understand about the Toshiba/Paramount deal there were clauses covering what would happen if HD-DVD went under, but Toshiba could have made them wait until the contract was up to release movies on Blu-Ray, even if they weren't producing HD-DVDs. Of course, that's just second-hand information.

[Antoine Doinel]

How to convert your HD DVDs to Blu-Ray.

[dx23]

How to convert your HD DVDs to Blu-Ray.

I think is cheaper for the moment to buy your HD movies on Blu-Ray when they come out. Blu-Ray recordable discs are expensive, the HD-DVD ripping software is expensive and you'll also need a HD-DVD drive, which will cost around $50.

[miless]

Daft Punk's film, Electroma (which premiered at Cannes two years ago), is coming to SD-DVD and Blu-Ray. This is pretty sweet news, since I've been pumped about this release since the trailer came out (2 years ago!)

[denti alligator]

Blue Underground to begin releasing Blu-rays

[Cinesimilitude]

Electroma Rules, I can't wait to get that on BD. Hopefully now that the war is over, the BD will be released in a sweet metal case like the DVD.

Also, isn't blue underground a smaller operation than criterion? and more niche in general? Things are getting exciting!

[s.j. bagley]

'electroma' on blu ray is fantastic news and pretty much seals the deal with me getting a player once i can afford it.

[Cinesimilitude]

This is a great site for finding out region coding information for blu-rays, and by the looks of it, LOTS of stuff is being released region-free already.

[Morbii]

I went ahead and purchased a PS3 (and I'll possibly get a S350 or S550 later in the year). The PS3 is actually quite quiet, so if anyone was worried about noise factor, worry no more.

[Donald Brown]

More Blu-ray disks coming from Tartan UK:

Tartan Video has announced the release of their next wave of Blu-ray titles, starting on the 14th of April with A Tale of Two Sisters, and followed on the 28th by Paranoid Park. The big news for Park Chan-wook fans is that both Lady Vengeance and I'm a Cyborg will see the light of day on the 26th of May. Bringing up the rear on the 26th of June will be The Proposition and Sky Blue. All titles will retail for around £24.99. Future Blu-ray releases will include the English-language version of Funny Games (starring Naomi Watts) and P2, along with titles from Tartan's catalogue.